Content uploaded by Margriet M J Heim
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Margriet M J Heim on Sep 23, 2014
Content may be subject to copyright.
Background
The COCP programme (Communicatieve Ontwikkeling van niet-sprekende personen en hun
Communicatiepartners –‘Communicative Development of nonspeaking individuals and their
Communication Partners’) was developed in the nineties within the area of child
rehabilitation. Mail goal is to optimise communication between nonspeaking children and
significant others in daily social interactions (parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists). These
communication partners receive individual and group instruction and coaching in order to
optimise the adult-child interaction and to create a sound basis for the communicative and
linguistic development. The ultimate goal is to teach the child to communicate clearly and
effectively in different situations and with various conversation partners.
Ten years ago, the implementation of the COCP-programme was extensively evaluated in
two rehabilitation centres (Heim & Jonker, 1996) and the effects of the programme on the
communicative development and language acquisition of three nonspeaking children were
studied longitudinally (Heim, 2001). The COCP-programme is currently being used in about
ten different institutions for child rehabilitation all over the Netherlands. Based on ten years of
practical experiences, the original COCP manual (Heim & Jonker, 1997) has been revised in
2006 (Heim, Jonker & Veen, 2006).
In the period 2002 – 2004 a pilot study was carried out in which the COCP programme was
implemented in an institution for people with intellectual disabilities in order to investigate the
applicability and effectiveness of the COCP programme within this setting and population
(Jonker et al, 2006). Based on the results of this pilot study a follow-up project is currently
being carried out in order to develop an adapted version of the COCP programme for Dutch
institutions for people with intellectual disabilities.
The current study examines the effects of the adapted COCP intervention programme
longitudinally in a group of ten clients with intellectual disabilities. These clients show mainly
pre-intentional behaviours, but seem to be able to make the transition of intentional
communicative behaviour.
Methodology
The effect study employs a within-subject design. All ten participants (ages 5-23) are
youngsters with severe intellectual disabilities and require AAC (i.e., their speech is not
adequate for functional communication).
The COCP intervention involves three essential components:
(1) developing appropriate personalised communication systems;
(2) implementing adaptations in the physical environment to stimulate communication;
(3) teaching communication partners how to facilitate communication (i.e. the expression of
communicative functions through AAC) within daily activities.
Preceding, during and after the intervention, the participants are videotaped in naturally
occurring interactions, each participant with two different communication partners, during
typical daily routines.
All participants will be followed longitudinally for about one year. Prior to intervention, each
dyad is videotaped three times in a period of two weeks. During the intervention period of
between eight and ten months each dyad is videotaped four times. After this period,
intervention will be (temporarily) stopped in order to investigate to which extend changes will
sustain. In a follow-up period of two months, each dyad will be videotaped again three times.
At the end, there will be a total of twenty measurements for each participant.
From each videotaped interaction five minutes are reviewed and coded for the following
behaviours of the client and his/her communication partner:
(1) turn taking patterns;
(2) initiating patterns;
(3) partner’s use of stimulating strategies (pausing, responsiveness, creating
opportunities, modelling AAC-modes);
(4) client’s use of communicative functions;
(5) client’s use of communication modes;
Data collected during the intervention phase and during the follow-up period are evaluated in
comparison to baseline data to determine treatment effects.
Presentation of preliminary results
In this session we will present the adapted version of the COCP programme and report the
preliminary results of the effect study. Videotapes will be shown to illustrate the interventions
and to demonstrate their effects over time.
References
Heim, M.J.M. & V.M. Jonker (1996). De implementatie van het COCP-programma. Een
evaluatie-onderzoek. Amsterdam, Instituut voor Algemene Taalwetenschap, Universiteit van
Amsterdam.
Heim, M.J.M., Jonker, V.M. & Veen, M. (2006). Het COCP-programma. Handleiding en
materiaal. Tweede geheel herziene druk. Wijk aan Zee/Amsterdam: Revalidatiecentrum
Heliomare/Universiteit van Amsterdam.
Heim, M.J.M. (2001). Nauwelijks sprekend veel te zeggen. Een studie naar de effecten van
het COCP-programma. Utrecht: LOT.
Jonker, V., Binnerts, M., Roemer, M. & Lemmens, C. (2006). COCP applied in an institution
for individuals with intellectual disabilities. Presentation at the 12th ISAAC Biennial
Conference in Düsseldorf Germany.